Carolina Ache Batlle | |
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Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations | |
In office 1 March 2020 – 19 December 2022 | |
President | Luis Lacalle Pou |
Preceded by | Ariel Bergamino |
Succeeded by | Nicolás Albertoni |
Personal details | |
Born | Carolina Ache Batlle 19 November 1980 Montevideo, Uruguay |
Political party | Colorado Party |
Spouse | Tomás Romay |
Relations | Batlle family |
Children | 2 |
Alma mater | Catholic University of Uruguay University of Bologna |
Carolina Ache Batlle (born 19 November 1980) is a Uruguayan lawyer and politician of the Colorado Party who served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations from 1 March 2020 to 19 December 2022.[1] She is a candidate in the 2024 Colorado presidential primaries for president of Uruguay in the 2024 general election.[2]
Born into a political family in Montevideo, Ache Batlle graduated from the Catholic University of Uruguay in 2005 with a law degree. After graduating, she obtained a master's degree in International Law at the University of Bologna. Also, in 2007 she completed a technical degree in foreign trade at the Mercosur Technical Institute.[3] In 2006 she carried out a curricular internship at the European Commission in Milan,[4] and from 2008 to 2010, she worked in the Legal and Compliance Department of Banco Santander in Geneva, Switzerland.[3] She is the great-niece of former President Jorge Batlle Ibáñez.[5]
Ache first competed in the Colorado youth elections in 2007.[6] From 2015 to 2019, she was a member of the National Executive Committee of the Colorado Party and held the position of its Human Rights Prosecutor.[7] In the 2014 presidential primaries, she participated as a member of the group Vamos Adelante, founded a year earlier.[8]
In 2018, Ache was a founding member of Ciudadanos, a faction of the Colorado Party led by Ernesto Talvi. In 2019 she was reelected as a member of the National Executive Committee of her party, and in the presidential primaries of that year she was the most voted woman in her political sector.[9] For the runoff of the general election, she supported the formula of Luis Lacalle Pou-Beatriz Argimón, as a member of the Coalición Multicolor.[10]
Once Lacalle's victory was known, Ache was appointed Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations by the president-elect,[11] on December 16, 2019; she would accompany Ernesto Talvi, who was appointed Minister.[12] She took office on March 1, 2020,[13] becoming the second woman to hold the position, after Belela Herrera.[14] In June, Talvi announced his intention to step down as minister,[15] which was made official on July 1.[16] After much speculation, it was announced that Ambassador Francisco Bustillo would replace Talvi at the head of the Foreign Ministry.[17] Despite the change of minister, Ache was retained in office by President Lacalle Pou on July 6.[18] On December 19, 2022, she resigned from the position, being succeeded by Nicolás Albertoni.[19] A few days later, she submitted her resignation as a member of Ciudadanos.[20]